Improvement in potato-diggers



F. C. SCHAFFER.

Potato Digger.

Patented Jan. 4, 1853.

AMJHOl'lY-LITHD. C0. NX. (OSBORNES PROCESS.)

UNrrnn Smarts a'rnnr tries.

FRANCIS O. SOHAFFER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

llVlPROi/EMENT lhl POTATO- DIGGERS.

Specification forming pal-tot Letters Patent No. 9,52%, dated January 4, 1553.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS O. SCI-IAFFER, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Implement for Digging Potatoes; and I dohereby declare that thefollowingis a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan or top view of the implement. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectionof the same, taken at the line 00 a", Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

The nature of my invention consists in the arrangement and construction of an endless apron and scoop, which will be hereinafter described, and by which arrangement and combination potatoes are dug or scooped fromthe hills and conveyed by the aid of a bruslrcyl' inder into a proper receptacle or box, the potatoes being thoroughly cleaned from dirt in consequence of passing up the incline apron.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and the mode in which it opcrates.

A represents the frame, which is rectangular and rests upon wheels B.

O is a movable frame, which fits within the frame A. The axles a of the back wheels pass through the back part of the frame O and form a fulcrum for it.

D is a scoop, (see Fig. 2,) which projects downward from the lower part of the frame 0. The bottom or" the scoopis formed of boards similar to a screen. Directly back of the scoop there is an endless apron, E, which works over the rollers F F. At the back of the upper roller, F, there is a receptacle, G, attached to the back part of the frame A. The bottom of the receptacle, and also the most part of its sides, and the back is formed of bars like the bottom of the scoop.

H is a cylinder the axis of which has its bearings in the movable frame 0. This cylin-- der has brushes I placed across its periphery in the direction of its axis, and may also have scrapers J arranged precisely similar to the brushes.

K K are levers, having their fulcra at L L. The inner ends of these levers are connected to one end of the frame 0 by links 0 c. Oneis clearly represented in Fi 2 by dotted lines.

M is a toothed wheel on the axle a. of the back wheels.

N is a pinion,wl1ich meshes intothe toothed wheel M and communicates motion to the brush cylinder H, the pinion H meshing into the toothed wheel O. On the axis of the cylinder P is atoothed wheel, also placed on the axle a of the back wheels, the wheel P meshing into the pinion R, which is on one end of the upper roller, F, of the endless apron. The toothed wheels above mentioned give motion to the brush-cylinder and endless apron as the implement is moved along.

The several parts being new described, the operation will readily be understood.

By operating the levers K K-that is, raisingor depressing them-(which the driver may do from his seat S by moving asmall lever, T.) the frame O, and consequently the scoop D, may be elevated or depressed the required distance. It is intended that the scoop shall be depressed when the implement is in use and pass underneath the potatoes in the hills or drills. The brushes of the cylinder H, as it revolves, throw the potatoes onto the endless apron E, and the apron conveys them into the receptacle G, the dirt and mold passing through the bottom of the scoop, which, as also the receptacle, is formed of bars similar to a screen. The endless apron, being formed of heavy iron wire, connected together at the ends, will of course allow the dirt and mold to pass between them and still retain the potatoes.

-I am aware that machines have been previously used fordiggingpotatoes; buton those machines the potatoes are d ug or scooped from the hills by means of a concave or scoop termed of a single piece, the brush'cylinder carrying the potatoes up the concave and into the receptacle. I therefore do not claim the above arrangement; but

\Nhat I doclaim as new,and desire to secure b Letters Patent, is

The arrangement and combination of the scoop D and endless apron E, by which the potatoes are dug or scooped from the hills, and the dirt thoroughly separated therefrom as they pass up the endless apron into the receptacle.

FRANCIS O. SOHAFFER.

Witnesses:

S. H. WALES, R. MAGFARLANE. 

